Nintendo boss says loot boxes have 'gotten a bit of a bad rap'

Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Amie has thrown his two cents into the loot box debate, and says the polarizing monetization model has "gotten a bit of a bad rap."

Speaking to Bloomberg, Fils-Amie claims the model isn't an inherently poor mechanic, but has simply been misused by some companies.

“The game mechanic of buying something that you’re not sure what’s inside is as old as baseball cards," he commented.

"What we believe at Nintendo is that a gameplay mechanic that offers the consumer something to buy that they’re not sure what’s inside can be interesting as long as that’s not the only way you can get those items.

"And that's where some developers have made some mistakes. For us, its one of many mechanics we can use to drive on-going engagement in the game."

Of course, there'll likely be plenty of people who disagree with the Nintendo exec, particularly those who felt stung by the implementation of the model in titles like Star Wars Battlefront II, which sparked the great loot box debate when it launched back in 2017.

Since then, officials and regulators from around the world have weighed in, with some even suggesting some forms of loot boxes should be prohibited or even banned outright.